Defining hire of Sherman’s tenure; tribute to fallen Aggie

COLLEGE STATION — In two seasons at Texas A&M, Mike Sherman’s offense is in place and, for the most part, rolling.

He’s about to make the defining hire of his tenure, however, in finding a replacement for the retired Joe Kines at defensive coordinator.

Simply, Sherman has got to tab someone who can make the Aggies’ defense relevant again — so when the Aggies average 34 points per game next season, they don’t wind up with a losing record.

Who will it be? Preferably someone young and mean and fiery, even at the expense of hurting the feelings of today’s athletes. Somehow it’s worked for Will Muschamp and Brent Venables.

Stay tuned as candidates — or a candidate — emerge.

• A tribute to Chris Cooper

Below is a contribution from Express-News sports writer Lorne Chan:

Chris Cooper would have loved a mention on the Texas A&M blog, so this is for him.

Coop was a 1997 A&M graduate who never left College Station.

He was a program coordinator at the A&M Health Science Center. His wife, Kristin, is an Aggie and assistant director at the Mays Business School. Naturally, their 22-month old daughter Colleen has plenty of Aggie gear.

And Coop loved A&M sports.

He wasn’t happy about the Independence Bowl, but Coop was still beaming over his fantasy football championship.

Coop is the commissioner of a league with himself and 11 other A&M former students. It’s the type of ultra-competitive league that keeps a championship trophy.

The 12 of them probably wouldn’t keep in touch as much as they do, if not for fantasy football. If not for the draft in College Station every season.

This is how I met Coop on a Sunday in October. Allen Rogers, one of his league opponents and closest friends, took me to watch football with Coop. We ate wings while Coop obsessively checked his phone for score updates.

He clinched his first league championship over the weekend. His first year to have the trophy.

Coop was in Wednesday’s Express-News. It was a five-paragraph story about a car wreck in Guadalupe County. His identity isn’t released in the story.

“The driver of the Honda, a man in his 30s, was killed instantly,” it reads.

Here’s his identity:

Chris Cooper, 34, a husband, a father, an Aggie and a fantasy football champion.